Monday marked the five-year anniversary of President Obama signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $787 billion federal stimulus plan. The White House claims it has been good for the U.S. economy, while Republican opponents say it was the wrong prescription. Editorial cartoonist Nate Beeler suggests the plan was a waste of money, while Eric Allie thinks it did provide one benefit.

In a speech last Wednesday about the U.S. economy, President Obama said, “With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball.” Editorial cartoonists Nate Beeler and Rick McKee question whether those “phony scandals” are really that phony.

Passengers at Denver International Airport wait to board United Flight 139, the first direct Denver to Toyko flight on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on June 10, 2013. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

By A. Barry Hirschfeld Jr. Guest Commentary

Earlier this year, Colorado’s global footprint took a significant step forward. Jan. 8 marked the first time that a sitting U.S. ambassador to Japan visited Colorado as part of an official trip. Why is this such a big deal for Colorado? The answer lies in the critical importance of connectivity and international business to our state’s economic future.

Ambassador John Roos’ trip to Denver was part of a tour of four western U.S. cities, all of which had recently launched or were soon starting new nonstop daily service to Tokyo. Daily nonstop service from Denver International Airport to Japan’s Narita Airport begins on June 10, marking a tremendous milestone for Colorado. The global connectivity provided by nonstop flights is absolutely key to the future economic growth of our state.

To put it in perspective, Denver International Airport is already the No. 1 economic generator for Colorado, pumping in over $20 billion in direct and indirect economic impact as measured by the Colorado Department of Transportation with its current 53 million passengers per year. However, DIA’s aviation master plan calls for doubling that capacity to 110 million passengers per year.Read more…

My company employs two individuals: myself and a writer. Our story is like that of many untold small business stories in Denver. I’m afraid that story is missing from the debate over how far we should go to protect privacy on the Internet.

The conversation is definitely needed. But it risks leaving out the voice of small business owners who put their life and soul into it. Who wouldn’t want to ensure a safe and secure online environment for users? We all do: Businesses who provide specialized services and products online want what’s best for the consumer. Not only is it ultimately better for our bottom line, but there is a benefit in preserving a better user experience.

Why should this issue be important to Denver? We employ over 40 percent of the Mile High City area’s workforce. Over 200,000 workers in Denver out of a population of over 600,000 in Denver proper and over 2 million area-wide.Read more…

In this file photo from August, 2012, job seekers fill out applications at a construction job fair in New York. (Seth Wenig, Associated Press)

This is a bit of a mixed bag, but we’re going with Day’s Worst on the latest jobs figures.

While the national unemployment rate dropped from 8.3 percent to 8.1 percent in July, the drop is attributable to more people giving up on the labor market.

The number of those who had a job in August or were looking for one went down by 368,000, the government said. Economists said the reasons for that decline were varied and included discouraged workers, retirement, and people who, for instance, decided to raise children or go to school.

A national survey of expected pay increases for salaried workers shows Denver’s workforce is in line to get some of the biggest pay bumps in the country.

Bring it on.

This year, raises averaged 3.2 percent and are set to jump 3.6 percent next year. Those are the largest gains of any major metro area in the country, according to the survey by Aon Hewitt, a human resources firm.

After several years of troubling economic numbers, stagnant wages and mortgage foreclosures, that’s some pretty good news.

It struck me as ironic that at roughly the same time I read news about Denver being highlighted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for its successes in job creation, news broke that Colorado’s unemployment rate jumped to 8.1 percent.

It’s the nature of economic recoveries, or certainly this one, to give off mixed signals.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Chamber released a report that lauded the efforts of leaders in Denver and Pittsburg, in creating jobs and an economic landscape conducive to economic recovery.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, Kelly J. Brough, president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, and Chris Riopelle, DaVita senior vice president traveled to a chamber conference this week in Washington D.C. for Jobs Summit 2012 to talk about the region’s efforts.

The report highlighted international trade activity and growth in certain job sectors, most notably in professional and technical services. Read more…

President Obama’s hastily withdrawn comment that the private sector is “doing fine” has been great fodder for editorial cartoonists on both sides of the aisle – or inkwell – this week. Here are some of the best toons we’ve seen this week on the topic.

Vincent Carroll is The Denver Post's editorial page editor. He has been writing commentary on politics and public policy in Colorado since 1982 and was originally with the Rocky Mountain News, where he was also editor of the editorial pages until that newspaper gave up the ghost in 2009.

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To reach the Denver Post editorial page by phone: 303-954-1331

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